A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD AND ITS ANTECEDENTS, JUNE

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1 DATE: 27 MAY 2015 A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD AND ITS ANTECEDENTS, JUNE Compiled By: ANG History Office (NGB/HO) June Beckwith Havens, a pilot employed by pioneer aircraft builder Glenn H. Curtiss, enlisted in the New York National Guard s 1 st Company, Signal Corps as a private June Hiram Bingham, a history professor at Yale University who had rediscovered the largely forgotten Incan city of Machu Picchu in July 1911, joined the Connecticut National Guard as a private. A strong aviation advocate, Lt. Col. Bingham became a pilot and commanded the Army s aviation school at Issoudun, France during World War I after he transferred to the Officer Reserve Corps of the Signal Corps. While a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, he was appointed to the President s Aircraft Board by President Calvin Coolidge in June The Second Aero Company, New York National Guard, was mustered in Buffalo under the command of Capt. John Sutterfield June The 104 th Squadron (redesignated the 104 th Observation Squadron on 25 January 1923), Maryland National Guard, received federal recognition. It emerged from a flying club active in Baltimore during 1919 and Initially, its 34 members had no uniforms or aircraft. They trained every Saturday afternoon at Logan Field in Dundalk, Maryland. Their training initially consisted of military drill and instruction about aviation topics June The Militia Bureau reported that 53 Army airplanes had been issued to 6 National Guard aviation units by this date June The 110 th Observation Squadron, Missouri National Guard, received federal recognition June The 120 th Observation Squadron, Colorado National Guard, received federal recognition. 7 1

2 29 June The 111 th Observation Squadron, Texas National Guard, received federal recognition June The 115 th Observation Squadron, California National Guard, received Federal recognition June The 103 rd Observation Squadron, Pennsylvania National Guard, received federal recognition June The Militia Bureau reported that, during the fiscal year ending on this date [FY 1926], that 11,954 aircraft hours and 21,585 man hours were flown. The average flying time per pilot that year was 66 hours, 47 minutes June The 112 th Observation Squadron, Ohio National Guard, received federal recognition. This brought the total number of National Guard aviation units to 17. They were manned by 330 officers and 1,636 enlisted men June The Militia Bureau reported that, during the fiscal year ending this date [FY 1927], that 15,706 aircraft hours and 28,766 man hours were flown. The average flying time per pilot that year was 74 hours, 47 minutes. 13 June of the 17 Guard aviation units began modernizing their aircraft inventories, receiving Douglas 0-2C and Curtiss 0-11 observation aircraft plus Consolidated PT-1 and Douglas BT-1 trainers. That was part of a plan approved by the Militia Bureau and the Army during Fiscal Year 1926 to phase out the Guard s aging Curtiss JNS trainers June An Ohio National Guard Douglas O-38 flown by 2 nd Lt. Karl E. Bushong dropped 25 tear gas bombs on a group of protestors near a mine and sprayed an adjacent hillside with machine gun fire to scare them away at the request of the Guernsey County sheriff. The protestors, mostly angry women who had been stoning working miners during a coal strike, dispersed June nd Lt. Karl E. Bushong dropped tear gas bombs from his Ohio National Guard Douglas 0-38 on several boatloads of West Virginia coal miners crossing the Ohio River at Powhatan to work as strike breakers in coal mines in the Buckeye state. He supported boatloads of striking Ohio coal miners who had intercepted the West Virginia miners in mid river. While the naval battle between 15 boatloads of miners armed with clubs and oars was progressing, Ohio National Guard soldiers fired machine gun tracer rounds at the far bank of the river to persuade would-be strike breakers to remain in West Virginia. 16 2

3 June Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Giles, an Army Air Corps Officer, replaced Colonel Clarence L. Tinker as Chief of the National Guard Bureau s Aviation Division June nd Lt Robert Curtis and 1 st Lt Robert Stone, pilots assigned to the 109 th Reconnaissance Squadron (formerly the 109 th Observation Squadron, Minnesota National Guard), were killed on missions along the French coast during the Normandy invasion June st Lt. Donald J. Smith, a prewar enlisted member of the Illinois National Guard s 108 th Observation Squadron, was shot down while piloting his B-24 on a bombing raid against the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. He parachuted safely from his burning aircraft, evaded capture by German forces, and escaped to allied lines in Italy months later with the aid of Yugoslav partisans. After the war, he rejoined the Illinois National Guard and rose to the rank of major general in its ANG organization June Personnel and several F-6As from the 107 th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, formerly the 107 th Observation Squadron, Michigan National Guard, became the first Army Air Forces tactical reconnaissance unit to operate from France. 20 June The 118 th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, formerly the 118 th Observation Squadron, Connecticut National Guard, was attached to and then assigned to the 23 rd Fighter Group -- heir of the Flying Tigers -- in China. It flew Curtiss P-40Ns and then North American F-6Cs June The mission of the Air Defense Command with respect to Air Guard units was changed by the Army Air Forces to only training rather than holding them in a high state of operational readiness June The 120 th Fighter Squadron, Colorado National Guard, was extended federal recognition. Slated to be equipped with P-51D s, it was the first unit to be federally recognized after World War II in what was to become a brand new reserve component in September 1947, the Air National Guard June California s 196 th Fighter Squadron became the first Air Guard unit to complete its conversion to jets and was redesignated the 196 th Fighter Squadron (Jet). The 196 th was equipped with brand new Lockheed P-80C Shooting Stars which had been ordered during Fiscal Year (FY) 1947 and FY 1948 to equip five ANG squadrons June The 196 th Fighter Squadron, California ANG, received brand 3

4 new F-80C Shooting Star fighters. 25 June A concerted recruiting drive by the 131 st Fighter Squadron, Massachusetts ANG, coinciding with the impending passage of a peacetime federal draft law netted 50 brand new members of the unit during a single evening June The ANG s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1949) reached 40, June The Korean War began when the North Koreans invaded South Korea June The Air National Guard s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1950) reached 44,728 including approximately 3,600 pilots June Congress passed the Universal Training and Military Service Act. Among its provisions, the legislation required each male drafted after 21 June 1951 to serve two years of active duty and then six more in a reserve component. The service secretaries were authorized to permit any man who entered organized units of the Guard or other reserve components to be released from serving in the regular armed forces June Headquarters United States Air Force changed the scheduled 90-day temporary duty of the Washington state Air Guard s 116th Fighter Interceptor Squadron to England to a permanent change of station move there June The Air Force reported that pilots in the 111 th Fighter Bomber Squadron (FBS), Texas ANG, and 154 th FBS, Arkansas ANG, averaged approximately 20 hours of F-84 flying time prior to reporting to the Far East Air Forces June Pilots of the 182nd Fighter Bomber Squadron, Texas Air Guard, flew a strike against an airfield at Yongu, North Korea from their base at Itazuke AB, Japan June While escorting B-29s near "MiG Alley" over North Korea, 1st Lt. Arthur E. Olinger and Capt. Harry Underwood of the 182nd Fighter Bomber Squadron, Texas ANG, flying F-84s, shared credit for the Air Guard s first jet kill, a MiG

5 30 June As of this date, approximately 38,000 Air Guardsmen had been called to extended active duty because of the Korean War. Of the 5,148 ANG officers mobilized, 52 percent were pilots June The Chief of the National Guard Bureau reported that, effective this date, organizational changes, primarily adoption of the Air Force s Wing Base Plan, had increased the ANG s authorized personnel strength from 57,709 to 79, June The Air National Guard s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1956) reached 63,534 including 3,451 pilots June The ANG s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1957) reached 67,950 including 3,681 pilots June The Air Guard s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1958) reached 69,995 including 3,777 pilots June North Carolina Air Guardsmen were called to State Active Duty (SAD) to maintain law and order at the Harriet-Henderson textile mills in Henderson, North Carolina. They relieved North Carolina Army Guardsmen who had been performing SAD there during a bitter textile mill strike June The Air Guard s personnel end strength (Fiscal Year 1959) reached 70,994 including 3,678 pilots June Colorado s Minute Men, the Air National Guard s official aerial demonstration team, was disbanded. Its federal funding had been eliminated June During the fiscal year ending on this date, the Air Guard s air defense runway alert program was expanded to 22 fighter squadrons. Under that program, seven of them performed alert duties around-the-clock while the remaining 15 units exercised those responsibilities 14 hours per day mostly between dawn and dusk June The first four Convair F-102 Delta Daggers were delivered to an Air Guard unit, the 182 nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Kelly AFB, Texas. 44 5

6 30 June During Fiscal Year 1962 which ended on this date, the Massachusetts Air Guard s 267 th Communications Group began furnishing a complete shift of workers two nights each week for the Communications Center of the Air Force Space Track and Research Development Facility at Hanscom AFB. 45 June A C-97A and crew from the New York Air Guard s 109 th Air Transport Group, mobilized during the Berlin crisis, flew a cargo of communications equipment from Dover AFB, Delaware to Nha Trang, Vietnam June Maj. Robert A. Rushworth, an Air Force test pilot and former Maine Air Guardsman, became the second winged astronaut after his X-15 attained an altitude of approximately 54 miles. Rushworth received his Air Force astronaut wings from Gen. Curtis LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, in a ceremony at the Pentagon on 25 July June A crew from Wyoming s 187 th Aeromedical Transportation Squadron, became the first Air Guardsmen to complete a six-week Lockheed C- 121G training program conducted by the U.S. Navy at Moffett Field, California and ferry one of those aircraft to their home station at Cheyenne June The Secretary of the Army assigned the new mission of Military Support of Civil Defense in the Continental United States to the Adjutants General and their state headquarters June The Montana ANG s 120 th Fighter Group flew a C-47 and a pair of T-33s to carry cargo and locate victims of flooding of tributaries of the Sun River after heavy rains and melting snow caused them to overflow their banks near Glacier National Park June The Air Defense Command s runway alert program continued through Fiscal Year 1964 with 24 Air Guard fighter squadrons participating. All but one of those units provided around-the-clock coverage seven days a week each with two aircraft on five-minute alert and two more on one-hour status. The Puerto Rico Air Guard s 198 th Tactical Fighter Squadron performed 14-hour alert, 7 days a week with 2 aircraft on 5-minute alert and 2 aircraft on 1-hour status. 51 June The National Guard Bureau began periodically tasking the command post of the Tennessee Air Guard s 118 th Military Airlift Wing in Nashville to coordinate, schedule, and monitor ANG domestic airlift missions as well as overseas training flights and Military Airlift Command channel 6

7 missions to Southeast Asia. That organization became known as the ANG Air Operations Center. It was the precursor of the Air National Guard Readiness Center at Andrews AFB, Maryland. 52 June To protect Great Falls, Montana against flooding, 375 Air Guardsmen from the 120 th Fighter Group assisted in sandbagging, evacuating threatened areas, patrolling, providing fixed and mobile communications, fire protection, and ground transportation. The unit s C-47 mission support aircraft flew 33 missions delivering emergency supplies and personnel June As flood waters raged through metropolitan Denver and the eastern plains region of Colorado, approximately 225 Air Guardsmen joined ARNG soldiers and civil authorities in disaster assistance operations June Elements of the Montana Air Guard s 120 th Fighter Group deployed to a base in Alberta, Canada with their F-89J fighter-interceptors for training during Operation Cold Lake and were supported there by Royal Canadian Air Force personnel June ANG fighter squadrons participated in the Air Defense Command s alert program during Fiscal Year 1966 providing around-the-clock coverage with 2 or 3 aircraft at each unit on 5 or 15 minute alert June A C-124 from Mississippi s 172 nd Military Airlift Group landed at DaNang Air Base, South Vietnam. It was the Air Guard s 1,000 th airlift mission to that war ravaged nation June The Colorado Air Guard s 120 th Tactical Fighter Squadron, deployed to Phan Rang Air Base, flew its first combat mission in Vietnam June The Air National Guard Non Commissioned Officer Academy officially began operations as a permanent all-guard organization at the McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville, Tennessee after a successful test of a pilot course there in June The Maryland Air Guard s 104 th Fighter Squadron, which had been mobilized during the Pueblo crisis, was transferred to Cannon AFB, New Mexico where it began training Air Force forward air controllers. That month, the Maryland Air Guardsmen also adopted a live tarantula as the unit s mascot. 60 June The 196 th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, California ANG, and the Alaskan Air Command began planning for the possible deployment of the 7

8 formers F-102 aircraft and support personnel to deploy to Alaska to conduct the unit s annual training, something which had never been done before. That initial planning was done without the involvement of the Aerospace Defense Command June Members of the mobilized 127 th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Kansas ANG, returned from Korea to their home station June By this date, all four Air Guard tactical fighter units mobilized in 1968 had returned from South Vietnam to the U.S. During their deployment, they flew 24,124 sorties and accumulated 38,614 combat flying hours. If the Air Force s preponderantly Air National Guard (volunteers) 355 th Tactical Fighter Squadron was included, those totals rose to approximately 30,000 sorties and 50,000 combat hours. ANG combat losses in South Vietnam were seven pilots and one intelligence officer killed in action plus 14 aircraft destroyed June Mobilized members of the 127 th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), Kansas ANG, and the 166 th TFS, Ohio ANG, were released from federal active duty and returned to state service following their deployment to Korea. 64 June Under Operation Prime Hawk, seven combat ready Air Guard F- 100 pilots from Missouri s 131 st Tactical Fighter Group arrived in Vietnam to beef up Air Force fighter units there. During the operation s 139 day duration, the ANG volunteers flew 159 combat missions and accumulated hundreds of combat flying hours. Some of them returned home after 90 days while others remained for 139 days June The Air Guard took over Selfridge AFB, Michigan from the Air Force. The installation was renamed Selfridge Air National Guard Base June In the wake of Hurricane Agnes, crews and C-130As of the New York Air National Guard s 139 th Tactical Airlift Squadron flew 105 flood relief missions to communities in their home state. Crews and C-121s from the Pennsylvania Air Guard s 171 st Aeromedical Airlift Wing flew food to flood ravaged communities in that state. Other Pennsylvania ANG units provided medical assistance and set up a communications networks to assist in flood recovery efforts in the Keystone State. Altogether, ANG units airlifted nearly 690,000 pounds of cargo to flood stricken communities in New York and Pennsylvania following Hurricane Agnes June ANG F-102s and pilots assumed five minute alert status at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona completing the Guard s requirements, first implemented on 6 October 1972, to strengthen the air defenses of the southern 8

9 border of the U.S. 68 June New Jersey s 150 th Tactical Airlift Squadron became the first ANG unit to operate the C-7A/B Caribou. In 1977, those aircraft were transferred to the Maryland Air Guard s 135 th Tactical Airlift Squadron which operated them until the end of June The Vermont Air Guard s 158 th Fighter Interceptor Group was redesignated the 158 th Defense Systems Evaluation Group (DSEG) and converted from F/TF-102As to EB-57B/Es. Like the Kansas Air Guard s 190 th DSEG, its new mission was to conduct electronic tests and evaluations of the US air defense system June After Congress rejected a 1974 Department of Defense proposal to deactivate it and several other Air Guard outfits, New York s 102 nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron was redesignated the 102 nd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron effective this date. To accomplish its new combat rescue mission, the unit converted from F/TF-102As to Lockheed HC-130H Ps and Sikorsky HH-3Es June About 70 members of the Montana Air Guard s 120 th Fighter Interceptor Group were placed on State Active Duty (SAD) to deal with flooding in Great Falls and the central part of the state. They flew aerial recon missions, helped evacuate victims and their property, manned traffic control points, and guarded property that had been moved to the fairgrounds. They were assisted by four C-130s and personnel from the California ANG that flew in five 6,000 pound pumps and their fittings to the state June Congressional action for the fiscal year ending on this date preserved five ANG units scheduled to be eliminated and restored its authorized personnel end strength to 95,000 from the 89,128 that it had been slated to be cut to. Those cuts had been proposed by the Air Force and DOD in the Fiscal Year 1975 President s Budget as part of an effort to cut post Vietnam War military spending June In the Fiscal Year 1975 annual report of the Chief, NGB which covered the period ending on this date, Captain Richard O. Hostetler, ANGUS, was listed as Chief of the Personnel Procurement Branch of the Air Directorate s Personnel Division. This was the earliest documented instance of a separate ANG recruiting organization in the NGB June The Secretary of the Air Force, John C. Stetson, approved a recommendation to establish a Fighter Weapons Office at the Arizona ANG s 9

10 facility at Tucson. Its mission was to participate in the development of fighter tactics and weapons delivery procedures for aircraft unique to the Air Reserve Components June The ANG Professional Military Education Center at Knoxville, Tennessee was renamed the I. G. Brown Professional Military Education Center in honor of the former Director of the Air National Guard (August April 1974) who had been instrumental in founding that organization June The 177 th Fighter Interceptor Group, New Jersey Air Guard, began pulling a detached air defense alert mission at Naval Air Station New Orleans in addition to their normal home station alert. The detached alert mission ended on 1 September June The 181 st Air Refueling Squadron, Texas ANG, phased out the last Boeing KC-97L in the Guard s inventory. The KC-97 had been operated by 10 Air Guard units since it first entered service with them in June Frances Myra Holt Arnold, a traditional Guard member assigned to the Texas ANG's state headquarters, became the first woman in Air Guard history to be promoted to the rank of chief master sergeant June Effective this date, the Air National Guard Support Center at Andrews AFB, Maryland was inactivated as a named activity. Concurrently, Headquarters, Air National Guard Support Center was constituted as a direct reporting unit and assigned to the U.S. Air Force. That action also designated the ANG Director as an Air Staff member having a dual appointment as the Commander of the Air National Guard Support Center and the Director of the Air National Guard. The center continued to develop, manage, and execute ANG programs developed by the National Guard Bureau and higher authorities June The first A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 104 th Tactical Fighter Group of the Massachusetts ANG arrived at the unit s home station at Barnes Airport, Westfield. The brand new aircraft was delivered directly from the Fairchild Republic plant in Hagerstown, Maryland June The 137 th Tactical Airlift Wing received four new C-130Hs at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. That was the first time that an Air National Guard airlift unit had been equipped with a factory fresh transport aircraft June LTG La Vern E. Weber, an Army Guardsman, was pinned as 10

11 the first 3-star Chief, National Guard Bureau (NGB). 83 June With the arrival of two T-43 aircraft at Buckley ANG Base, the Colorado Air Guard announced that it would be assuming the mission of supporting the U.S. Air Force Academy s Airmanship Program. 84 June For the first time in the history of the U.S. military reserve components, training was conducted with Japanese air units from the latter s home soil and in their skies. That distinction belonged to personnel plus F-4C and C-130 aircraft of the Hawaii Air National Guard s 154 th Composite Group that deployed to Misawa Air Base to participate for a Cope North exercise. 85 June National Guard magazine reported that the Tactical Air Command had recently given the Texas Air Guard s 149 th Fighter Group the primary responsibility for developing tactics and training programs for use by other ANG units to conduct the Tactical Air Support for Maritime Operations (TASMO) mission. 86 June KC-135s, aircrews and maintenance personnel from the Arizona Air Guard s 161 st Air Refueling Group conducted their annual training at Guam and Diego Garcia. They offloaded 495,800 pounds of fuel while flying 64 hours. It was the first time that a SAC-gained ANG tanker unit had deployed to a Pacific Ocean or an Indian Ocean tanker task force location June A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Andrews AFB, Maryland to mark the start of construction on a new building to house the Air National Guard Support Center. Representative Marjorie Holt (R-Maryland) and Dr. Edward Philbin, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, shared the honor of scooping out the first shovel of dirt from the construction site. Holt had been instrumental in shepherding the project through the Congress June The first McDonnell Douglass F-15 Eagle was formally accepted by the Air Guard in ceremonies at Alvin Callendar Field, Belle Chasse, Louisiana, home of the 159 th Tactical Fighter Group. During its conversion, the Louisiana ANG unit exchanged its F-4Cs for both F-15As and F-15Bs June At Pope AFB, the C-130B equipped 145 th Tactical Airlift Group, North Carolina, became the first Air National Guard unit to win the Military Airlift Command s tactical airdrop competition, Volant Rodeo June Personnel and A-10s from the Maryland Air Guard s 175 th Tactical 11

12 Airlift Group deployed to George AFB, California to participate in exercise Air Warrior for the first time. They provided close air support for friendly or Blue Forces at the Army s National Training Center (NTC) at Ft. Irwin, California. The NTC had been developed by the Army after the Vietnam War to provide highly realistic combat training like the Air Force s Red Flag exercises at Nellis AFB, Nevada June The Air National Guard Support Center at Andrews AFB, Maryland was redesignated the Air National Guard Readiness Center effective this date June A 124th Fighter Group, Idaho ANG, F-4G "Wild Weasel" was illuminated by Iraqi surface air defense radar while escorting Joint Task Force Southern Watch aircraft over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq. The F-4G pilot launched an AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) at the radar site and destroyed it before returning safely to base. 93 June In response to the growing violence and UN casualties in Somalia, the ANG deployed a partial Mobile Aerial Staging Facility to the Mogadishu International Airport. It was manned by ANG volunteers June Major Mike Williams, an electronics warfare officer assigned to the 124 th Fighter Group, Idaho ANG, completed his 100 th combat sortie when he flew an F-4G Wild Weasel mission over Iraq on this date June The Air Force Times reported that "Congressional heavyweights" had persuaded the Department of Defense to scrap Air Force plans to reduce five ANG C-130 units from 12 to 8 aircraft each June Operation Joint Forge began in Boznia-Herzegovnia as Operation Joint Guard simultaneously ended there. 97 June The 201 st Airlift Squadron, District of Columbia ANG, rolled out its first two C-38A Astra operational airlift passenger transport aircraft in a ceremony at Andrews AFB, Maryland. The C-38A replaced the unit s C-21s June An advance party and four KC-135s from the 108th Air Refueling Wing, New Jersey ANG, departed for an undisclosed location in Europe to pave the way for additional unit members. The unit was called to active duty to support NATO operations in Kosovo June Yugoslavia accepted an international peace plan for ending the Kosovo conflict, bowing to NATO demands for withdrawal of all its army and police forces and deployment of a NATO-dominated peacekeeping force to that 12

13 war-torn province

14 4 June The Virginia ANG presented a proposal to the NGB to relocate the 192 nd Fighter Wing from Richmond to Langley AFB and form a Virginia ANG associate unit at the latter location to fly the new F-22 Raptor as part of the Air Force s First Fighter Wing when the latter organization received the aircraft June Yugoslav military commanders signed a "military technical agreement" with NATO military commanders for Yugoslav forces to begin withdrawing from Kosovo on 10 June June NATO suspended air attacks on Yugoslavia under Operation Allied Force after intelligence reports showed Yugoslav military forces evacuating Kosovo as agreed June Two Louisiana Air Guard F-15As from the 159 th Fighter Wing that had deployed to Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland for a NATO exercise intercepted Russian TU-95 Bear bombers that had penetrated the Icelandic Military Air Defense Identification Zone in a long range probe not seen since the Cold War s end. Two more Louisiana ANG Eagles, launched from Keflavik, escorted the bombers out of the area June NATO officially ended the air war against Yugoslavia, Operation Allied Force, after Serb forces had completed their withdrawal from Kosovo June ANG A-10s from the 104 th Expeditionary Operations Group based at Trapani Air Base, Sicily, flew their final airborne close air support alert sorties for Operation Allied Force June Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen authorized the redeployment of some U.S. military aircraft that had participated in Operation Allied Force. He authorized 315 aircraft including 18 ANG A-10s from the 104 th Expeditionary Operations Group to begin returning to their home stations June The ANG Crisis Action Team reported that, as of this date, 4,227 Air Guardsmen had been activated under the Presidential Selected Reserve Call-Up for Kosovo operations and 2,976 of them had been deployed away from home station for those operations. The ANG had deployed73 KC- 135s and 18 A-10s for those operations as of this date June All 18 ANG A-10s of the 104 th Expeditionary Operations Group departed Trapani Air Base, Sicily, for the continental United States. The aircraft, their crews and support personnel had participated in Operation Allied Force

15 16-18 June During a McConnell AFB Open House, the 184 th Bomb Wing, Kansas ANG, unveiled to the public its newly modernized B-1 Lancer bombers. Equipped with 24 all-weather precision guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, each of the bombers could strike 24 different targets during a single bomb run with 2,000 pound warheads with a high degree of accuracy around the clock in all weather conditions. 110 June Oregon Air Guardsmen and F-15s from the 173 rd Fighter Wing spent over two weeks in Poland demonstrating air-to-air combat techniques to their new NATO allies June Maj. Gen. Daniel James III, the Adjutant General of Texas and a Vietnam combat veteran, became the Director of the Air National Guard and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He was the first three-star officer and the first African-American officer to hold that assignment June An aircrew from the 116 th Bomb Wing, Georgia ANG, flew the unit s last scheduled B-1 training flight. The unit would become the 116 th Air Control Wing on 1 October 2002 and transition to the E-8C Joint STARS (Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) June Utah National Guardsmen were sent to the Arizona-Mexico border on this date. They were expected to begin operations supporting the U.S. Border Patrol by June 5 th. The entire National Guard mission to strengthen border security, directed by President George W. Bush, was known as Operation Jump Start June The first Arizona Guardsmen working under President George W. Bush s plan for the National Guard to strengthen border security, Operation Jump Start, began arriving at that state s boundary with Mexico June In a ceremony at Tyndall AFB, Florida, First Air Force celebrated the opening of the 601 st Air and Space Operations Center. The $30 million state-of-the-art facility was conceived in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States as a key ingredient in strengthening the nation s air defense system. It also was responsible for coordinating life-saving operations during natural and man-made disasters June Major Kevin Sonnenberg, 112th Fighter Squadron, 180 th Fighter Wing, Ohio ANG, died when his F-16 jet crashed five miles north of Balad AB in Iraq after takeoff. Maj Sonnenberg had just departed on a 15

16 mission to provide air support to coalition ground forces fighting anti-iraqi forces, but no sources reveal whether the crash was combat related June The last operational F-16A in the total Air Force inventory flew its final mission when it took off from the home station of the Arizona Air Guard s 162 nd Fighter Wing at Tucson to indefinite storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The unit had trained 1,640 U.S. and allied pilots in the F-16A/B pilots since it took on that mission in Those pilots represented 22 of the 24 nations that fly the fighter June At the request of senior Air Force officials, the Minnesota Air National Guard s 148 th Fighter Wing established an Air Sovereignty Alert (ASA) operation at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. They also continued to perform the ASA mission at their home station in Duluth, Minnesota. Both sites were part of Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) June The 178th Fighter Squadron, 119th Fighter Wing, North Dakota ANG began flying MQ-1 Predator missions from Hector Field, Fargo, North Dakota. 120 June The last of eight new C-130J transports was delivered to the 143 rd Airlift Wing, Rhode Island ANG, at its home station in Providence, Quonset State Airport June Effective this date, Col. Allyson R. Solomon was promoted to brigadier general and became the first African-American and the first woman ever to assume the post of Assistant Adjutant General for Air in Maryland June Federal Judge Richard Mills dismissed the Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich s lawsuit to prevent the state s 183 rd Fighter Wing from losing its F-16s as directed by BRAC Twice previously, federal judges had dismissed the governor s lawsuit on procedural grounds. This time the lawsuit was decided on its merits June Members of the Missouri Air Guard s 131 st Bomb Wing (BW) performed their first solo B-1A mission on this date. The aircraft was launched by ANG crew chiefs and was flown by ANG pilots. The 131 st has been converted to a classic associate unit of the Air Force s 509 th BW at Whiteman AFB, Missouri due to a BRAC 2005 decision that stripped the former unit of its fighter mission. Announced plans were to transfer 25 ANG pilots and nearly 500 ANG maintenance, operations and support staff to Whiteman AFB

17 26 June The 302 nd Air Expeditionary Group (AEG) consisting of Air Guard and Air Force Reserve assets from North Carolina, Wyoming and Colorado began wildfire fighting operations out of McClellan Airfield, California. Their C-130s were joined in the 302 AEG by Navy and Marine helicopters equipped with water buckets. On 2 July 2008, bucket-carrying HH-60G helicopters of the California ANG s 129 th Rescue Wing (RW) were certified for firefighting and joined the firefighting operation. The 129 RW was the first rescue unit in the total Air Force to qualify for that mission June The final Officer Commissioning class at McGhee Tyson ANGB in Knoxville, Tennessee was held. As part of TFI, The Academy of Military Science (AMS) and its association with the Air National Guard s officer commissioning program transferred from the I.G. Brown Air National Guard Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson to Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Since its founding at McGhee Tyson ANGB in 1971, AMS commissioned more than 14,000 officers in the Air Reserve Component (ARC) June The 183 rd Fighter Wing (FW), Illinois ANG, was assigned two new non-flying missions on this date. The unit, which was slated to lose its F- 16s before the end of the year due to BRAC 2005, would establish the 183 rd Air Operations Group and a centralized intermediate repair facility for the General Electric F110 engine. The engine facility would support five ANG F- 16 flying units. The 183 rd FW was scheduled to begin converting to the new roles in FY June Senate National Guard Caucus leaders Patrick J. Leahy (D- Vt.) and Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) reintroduced legislation titled the National Guard Empowerment Act III. Among other provisions, it would: place the Chief, NGB on the JCS; create an NGB Vice Chief; give the NGB budgetary authority; and ensure that Governors retained tactical control of the Guard when operating domestically. This was the culmination of a long, albeit intermittent, drive by National Guard interests and their political allies to assure that the Guard had a bigger say within the military establishment when critical decisions were being made that impacted its interests. That drive had begun as early as 1920 when National Guardsmen convinced the Congress that the Chief of the Militia Bureau (today s NGB) must by law be a National Guard officer instead of the regular Army officers who had held the post up to that point June The last commissioned officer training class graduated from the Academy of Military Science (AMS) at McGhee-Tyson ANGB, TN prior to the school s move to Maxwell AFB, AL, where it would be co-located with Air Force Officer Training School (OTS)

18 1 June The first class of aspiring Air National Guard F-16 crew chiefs reported to the Arizona ANG s 162 nd Fighter Wing s new maintenance school at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona June The Pentagon announced that the National Guard Bureau had chosen the states of Ohio and Washington to field the first two homeland response forces (HRFs). Each HRF would consist of about 570 Army and Air Guardsmen organized in a unit with a self-deployable capability to respond across the country to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive incidents. Plans called for 8 more HRFs, 1 to be located in each of the Federal Emergency Management Agency s 10 regions June Colonel Peter Hronek, commander of the Montana Air Guard s 120 th Fighter Wing, reported on this date that his unit had achieved its initial operational capability (IOC) in its BRAC-mandated conversion from F-16s to F-15s. The unit was a full year ahead of schedule in achieving its IOC milestone June President Obama announced that he had authorized 17,000 National Guard troops to help deal with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. At that point, only 1,600 Guardsmen had been called up because of the disaster June The last Hawaii ANG F-15 (F-15C) mission was accomplished, marking the end of 22 years of Eagle flying by that organization June The first four A-10s landed at the Indiana ANG s base in Fort Wayne as the 122 nd Fighter Wing started phasing out its F-16s June Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, JCS Chairman, announced that President Obama had nominated Lt. Gen. Frank C. Grass, Deputy Commander of U.S. Northern Command, to be the next NGB Chief. Grass was a Missouri Army National Guardsman June The 146 th AW, California ANG, deployed two MAFFS equipped C-130J aircraft to battle wildfires in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. More than a dozen fires fueled by lightning strikes, dry winds, drought, and dead, beetle infested trees were ablaze across the state, overwhelming local firefighters. These were federal missions flown for the U.S. Forrest Service June The Air National Guard Readiness Center (ANGRC) held its first Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) stand-down. It was 18

19 conducted from 8AM to 9AM local time at the Joint Base Andrews, Maryland theater. Follow-on small group sessions for the ANGRC s staff were planned and conducted later. 138 June Elements of the Colorado ANG s 120 th Fighter Squadron participated in Eager Lion, an exercise in Jordan along with elements of that nation s air force. Eager Lion was a complex series of air, ground and sea exercises involving U.S., Jordanian and allied forces. It was designed to reinforce joint operations. Elements of the Ohio ANG s 112 th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron also participated. F-16s from both ANG units remained in Jordan at the request of the host nation to continue training activities. The Colorado ANG has been the State Partnership Program affiliate of the Royal Jordanian Air Force since

20 NOTES 1 Article (U), A Coming of Age: Aviation in the Army National Guard, p Joseph J. Corn, The Winged Gospel: America s Romance With Aviation, , (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, paperback edition), 57-58; Note Card (U),Record of Service, Hiram Bingham, Connecticut National Guard, undated,; Article (U), Bingham, Hiram ( ), 3 Francillon, Air Guard, p Francillon, Air Guard, p. 17; Maurer, Aviation In The U.S. Army, p. 95; Maryland Air National Guard, p Rpt (U), Militia Bureau, Subj.: Annual Report Of The Chief Of The Militia Bureau, [FY] 1922, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1922, p Francillon, Air Guard, p Francillon, Air Guard, p Francillon, Air Guard, p Francillon, Air Guard, p Francillon, Air Guard, p Rpt (U), Militia Bureau, Annual Report of the Militia Bureau [FY] 1927, Washington, DC, United States Government Printing Office, 1927, p Francillon, Air Guard, pp. 19, Rpt (U), Militia Bureau, Annual Report of the Militia Bureau [FY] 1927, Washington, DC, United States Government Printing Office, 1927, p Francillon, Air Guard, pp ; Gross, American Military Tradition, p Robert L. Daugherty, Weathering The Peace: The Ohio National Guard in the Interwar Years, , (Dayton, OH: Wright State University Press, 1992), p. 124 and endnote 60 on p Daugherty, Weathering The Peace, pp Biography (U), Air Force Link, Major General Benjamin F. Giles, undated, p1. 18 Article (U), Lt Col James Lightfoot, NGB Historian, Invasion From Above, The On Guard, June 1994, p MSgt Ernest J. Vardalas, Headquarters Illinois ANG, and TSgt Melvin M. Bytnar, 126 th Air Refueling Wing, Illinois ANG, Illinois Air National Guard: Fiftieth Anniversary, , (Headquarters, Illinois ANG, First Edition, August 1978), p Rpt (U), Major Michael D. Soule, Michigan ANG, Subj.: The Unit History of the 107 th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard, October 1940 To November 1945, Maxwell AFB, AL. Air Command and Staff College, Report No , April 1978, p Francillon, Air Guard, p

21 22 Study (S/RD/NOFORN), The Air National Guard In Air Defense, p. 4, info used was (U). 23 Francillon, United States Air National Guard, pp. 40, 110; Gross, Prelude, p Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p rd Fighter Interceptor Group, p , Tenth Anniversary, 104 th Tactical Fighter Group, 131 st Fighter- Interceptor Squadron (104 th TFG, MA ANG, 1957), p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report Of The Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1949, Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1951, p Gross, Prelude, p Rpt (U), Chief, NGB, Annual Report, Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1950, 30 June 1950, pp Gross, Prelude, p Ritchie, "116th FIS, ," p Memo (U), Maj. Gen. R. M. Ramey, USAF, Director of Operations, DCS/Operations, HQS USAF, to Col., Frank T. McCoy, Jr., Deputy For Civilian Components, Subject: Mobilized ANG Units, 25 June 1951, Box 880, SAF (340), Correspondence (324.5 to 325), National Archives. 33 Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Gross, American Military Tradition, p News Item (U), Air Reserve Forces Review, November 1951, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: CNGB, Rpt, FY 1951, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report Of The Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1946, Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1957, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1957, Washington, DC.: 1958, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report Of The Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1958, Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1959, p Billy J. Reid, Col (Ret), NCANG, Editor, A Commemorative History Of The North Carolina Air National Guard, , (145 AW, NCANG, 1998), p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report Of The Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year Ending 30 June 1959, Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1960, p Article (U), The Air Guard s first, only demo team honored, The On Guard, October 2006, p. 5; Colorado Pride, pp Francillon, Air Guard, p Article (U), Texas Gets Air Guard s First F 102s, The National Guardsman, August 1960, p

22 45 Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1962, p News Item (U), Dover to Vietnam, The Air Reservist, December 1962,.13; Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Biographical Sketch (U), USAF Major Robert A. Rushworth, Maine s First U.S. Astronaut, 3 August 1963, Astronaut File, ANG Historical Archives; Biography (U), Air Force Link, Subj.: Major General Robert A. Rushwoth, undated, In a 17 November 2006 telecon with Dr. Roger L. Launius, Chief of Space History at the Smithsonian s National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Charles J. Gross, Chief of ANG History in the NGB learned that NASA does not recognize Air Forcegranted astronaut wings. According to the international convention which NASA adheres to, space begins at 60 miles above the earth s surface not 54 miles. 48 News Item (U), Constellations for Air Guard, The Air Reservist, July 1963, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report, Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1965, undated, p Daniel L. Haulman, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, The United States Air Force and Humanitarian Airlift Operations, The United States Air Force Reference Series, (Washington, DC: Air Force History And Museums Program, 1998), pp Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1964, p Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1986 CY 1991, pp , info used was (U). 53 Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1964, undated, p Colorado Pride, p Article (U), The Peaceful Invasion, The National Guardsman, August 1966, p Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Report Chief, National Guard Bureau Fiscal Year 1966, undated, p News Item (U), Air Guard Flies 1000 th Mission To Viet Nam, The National Guardsman, August 1967, p Colorado Pride, p Rpt (U), NGB, Annual Report, Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1968, p. 43; Hist (U), ANG, CY 1995 CY 1997, p. 187; News Item (U), Air Guard Academies Evolve Into Permanent Institution, The National Guardsman, April 1968, p Maryland ANG, Maryland Air National Guard, pp. 89, Hist (S/RD/NOFORN), Aerospace Defense Command, Fiscal Year 1969, p. 87, info used was (U). 62 Meyer, The Story of the Kansas Air National Guard, pp

23 63 Gross, Prelude, pp Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Article (U), a Palace or two, The National Guardsman, October 1970, p Article (U), Largest ANG Base, The Air Reservist, August/September 1971, p Memo (U), Lt. Col. D. A. McLaughlin, USAF, Actg Deputy Chief, Air Compt., Div., To NGB/CF,, Subj.: U.S. Air Force History (Your ltr, 16 Dec 74), 23 December 1974, w/atch Paper (U), ANG Significant Events For The Period 1 Jan 1972 To 31 Dec 197; Rpt (U), NGB, Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1972, Chief, National Guard Bureau, p. 53; Article (U), The War Against Water, The National Guardsman, August/September 1972, pp. 2-9, Memo (U), Subj.: U.S. Air Force History (Your ltr, 16 Dec 74), 23 December Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Francillon, United States Air National Guard, pp.124, 171, Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p. 146; News Item (U), Green Giant joins ANG, The National Guardsman, October 1975, p 43, 72 CMSgt Joseph K. Kuzara, Headquarters, Montana ANG, Editor, Montana Air National Guard: The First 50 Years, (Montana ANG, ca 1997), p Report, Major General LaVerne E. Weber, USA, Chief, NGB, Subj.: Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1975, Chief, National Guard Bureau, Reports Control Symbol-Cong 1011, undated, pp Report (U), Maj. Gen. LaVern E. Weber, USA, Chief, NGB, Subj.: Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1975, Chief, National Guard Bureau, Reports Control Symbol-Cong 1011, undated, p Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1992-CY 1994, pp. 8-11, info used was (U); Chart (U), USAF Leaders Through the Years, Air Force Magazine, May 2006, p Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1978, p.156, info used was (U); Gross, American Military Tradition, p. 197; Article (U), Guard honors I.G. Brown, The National Guardsman, September/October 1978, pp Rpt (U), NGB, Subj.: Annual Review Chief, National Guard Bureau, Fiscal Year 1978, undated, p Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Article (U), MSgt Bob Haskel, NGB, "Too Busy To Notice," The On Guard, January 1999, p Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1979, pp Special edition, , 40 th Anniversary, (104 th TFG, MA ANG, 1986), p Article (U), Here Come the [C-130] H Models, National Guard, August 1979, pp ; Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1979, p. 67, info used was (U). 83 Congressional Record, 12 Jun 1979, S7510 (DOC 2), CY 1979 ANG History; 23

24 Article (U), It s Official! NGB Chief Has 3 Stars, National Guard, August 1979, p 4 (DOC 3), CY 1979 ANG History; Msg (U), Chief NGB to all Adjutants General, Subj.: Z June 1979 (DOC 4), CY 1979 ANG History. 84 Article (U), MSgt Janet A. Wright, Colorado ANG, Colorado Air Guard Assumes New Mission, Gets New Jets, National Guard, September 1979, p Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1980, pp , info used was (U). 86 Article (U), Texans Expand Their Horizon, National Guard, June Article (U), Arizona Air Guard Unit Deploys to Pacific Theater, National Guard, December 1981, pp Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1983, p. 285, info used was (U); News Item (U), Holt Breaks Ground for Air Guard Support Center, National Guard, August 1983, p. 6. Information on Representative Holt s key role was provided via telecon from Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway (Ret.), former ANG Director and former Chief, NGB, to Dr. Charles J. Gross, Chief, ANG History, NGB, in August Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1985, pp , info used was (U). 90 Hist (U), MAC, , pp ; Article (U), Best Overall: 145 th Tactical Airlift Group Wins Volant Rodeo, National Guard, October 1986, p. 16; Francillon, United States Air National Guard, p Col. Ball, The Maryland Air National Guard, p Hist (U), ANG, CY 1992-CY 1994, p. xi. 93 Hist (FOUO), ANG, CY 1995-CY 1997, p. viii, info used was (U). 94 Rpt (U), NGB, "Annual Review, Chief NGB, FY 1993," undated, p News Item (U), compiled by Capt. Phil Blahut, News Makers column, The On Guard, September 1994, p Article (U), Steve Watkins, "Reserve, Guard to keep C-130s," The Air Force Times. 97 Article (U), Operation Joint Forge, undated, GlobalSecurity.org web site, draft manuscript, ANG post-cold War history. 98 Article (U), Lt. Col. Mike Milord, Flying Faster And Farther: The District of Columbia s 201 st Airlift Squadron Receives C-38A Jet, National Guard, September 1998, p Article (U), Tomoeh Murakami, "Soldiers Depart McGuire Base On NATO Support Trip," Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 June Article (U), Daniel Williams, "Yugoslavs Yield To NATO Terms," Washington Post, 4 June 1999, p 1; Article (U), William Drozdiak and Anne Swardson, "Military, Diplomatic Offensives Bring about Accord," Washington Post, 4 June 1999, p Paper (U), Col. Ed Grogan, HQTS/SV, VA ANG, and Col. Bill Schwartz, HQTS/PA, VA ANG, VaANG Total Force Proposal: VaANG Relocate To Langley AFB & Form An Associate Unit At Langley AFB, proposal prepared for Lt. Col. Terrance Brotherton, NGB/XPX, 4 June 1999; Hist (S/NF), ANG, 24